


There's a Beast Running Wild (But I Fear the Wrong Monster's Released)

by PonderingsAndWritings



Series: We Are Children that Need to Be Loved [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Don't Threaten Mal in front of Evie, Duke of Weselton is a Weasel, F/F, F/M, Isle Four Family, Jay is Observant, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 08:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14209188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PonderingsAndWritings/pseuds/PonderingsAndWritings
Summary: Evie’s stillness is worrying him, though. Evie worries and thinks and works with her hands to create potions and gowns and give solutions. She doesn’t stay still."I agree with Count DeVoile, this behaviour is simply a peril to all of us, your Majesty!"When Chad incites the violent side of Mal and causes her involuntary transformation, the rest of Auradon discovers the more dangerous side of Maleficent's daughter.A decision has to be made about the magic of the villain kids and Jay observes as Evie makes her final stand and delivers a blow unlike any other to the presumptuous.





	There's a Beast Running Wild (But I Fear the Wrong Monster's Released)

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know. This is not the actual Malvie I promised literally two years ago, but it wouldn't leave me alone. I had no idea how to continue with the previous universe in light of the second movie, until inspiration struck a month ago.
> 
> Thereby.
> 
> Setting: Auradon. Time: Sometime after the ending of Descendants 2. This takes place before the events of We're Smiling But We're Close to Tears. 
> 
> Character Info: Mal and Ben are still together. Freddie Facilier is borrowed from Wicked World and so is her bff, whose name is Harriet Hook because that's how I'm used to her in the novels. 
> 
> Background: This universe presupposes a few differences from the books' background. Mal and Jay had their own gang, rival to that of Uma's, with both Freddie and Harriet as members. Evie and Carlos joined later on after the quest Maleficent sent Mal on and from then on the Core Four were born, but the gang still existed. Jay was Mal's right hand man.

“You can’t be serious, Sire. The fact that the girl has this power could pose a serious threat to our security.”

 The nobleman’s voice carries with an air of finality over the entire room and it’s as if everything that they did, that they have been doing was for nothing. It’s as if Fairy Godmother’s wand sparked on its own accord and wiped the memories of all the people in the room. No more fight between Maleficent and Mal, no more them opposing their parents and choosing good, no more them being on a quest to the Isle to find their parents’ powerful weapons so that there was no chance they’d recover their magic.

 _Certainly not said girl turning into a dragon for the first time to protect the ruler of the mighty sovereign republic of Auradon_.

Everything is under threat of oblivion because apparently someone transforming into a dragon – and having a bit of magic as part of their nature- was that big of a deal. And yes, Jay has to admit that maybe the way the rest of the Auradon populace found out could have been better, but it wasn’t Mal’s fault that Chad had decided Parents’ Weekend was a good day to poke fun at the Isle Four.

 _Carlos, did mommy let you out of out the kennel for the weekend? Oh, Eves, chemistry grades aside you still care about makeup, haven’t changed that much, have you? Asshole_ , Jay scoffs as another nobleman rises to voice his identical opinion in the throne room.   

It would have been fine if Mal was in control of her transformations, but she had only voluntarily been in control in only two instances so far with Merlin’s help. After the ship, after Uma, Mal was still nervous of her newfound power, the possibility that its running through her veins would make her a risk to the Auradonians who have started to accept her, but most importantly to them, her family. Not surprisingly for Mal, she did pay attention to her magic more after the transformation. Or, more accurately, her magic paid more attention to her.

 _It’s like now that it’s out, it won’t go away. It itches and burns and I feel it running through me… Like it will eat me alive if I don’t let it out_.

She had been shaking in his arms as she whispered the words, head buried in his chest. He can still remember the smell of acrylic paint wafting in the air around them as they were pressed together sitting on the floor of the art room, where he’d found her after she failed to show up to lunch.

_Seriously, why is it that when something is up with her it’s always during lunch?_

Thankfully, this is Mal. And Mal can handle anything and she was smart enough to figure out what was happening to her. Smart enough to go to Fairy Godmother, who knew Mal could not suppress it because it’s in her blood and sent for Merlin to help out. But obviously none of this counts for Count Isle-Kids-Are-Bad-cula.

_That’s lame. I’m never telling Mal or Freddie I thought of that. Even Dude would make fun of me for this one and he chases squirrels._

The voices in the throne room suddenly get louder and Jay winces. All of this because of Chad fucking Charming.

Because Chad had been an asshole, taunting them further and he reached and grabbed Evie as she was walking away, causing her to stumble and fall down. And Mal was there and she got pissed off and she couldn’t fully control it yet. And she hadn’t hurt anyone. She hadn’t. She had shapeshifted and struggled against letting out her fiery breath. His best friend had flown off and came back an hour later, only to turn back into her human body and collapse on the front steps of Auradon Prep.

 _They send her home, I’m going with her,_ Jay thinks as nods of consent to the nobleman’s voice spread around the room, making the bitter and foul taste of goblin coffee return to his mouth for the first time since he left the Isle.

He can feel Evie breathe next to him. The girl is not shaking with fury like he is or whispering about the unfairness and threatening voodoo magic like Freddie. She’s standing still, eyes glued to the curtains enveloping Ben’s throne.

The Evil Queen’s daughter had been the one to rush to Mal and bring her to the infirmary with Jay’s help. In fact, Mal is still unconscious on those too white sheets, being guarded by Auradon’s finest guards, but also by Carlos and Dude. Jay has more faith in the second pair, partly because of the lack of pointy swords that could threaten Mal’s body, but mostly because they’re family. They know the drill.

Evie’s stillness is worrying him, though. Evie worries and thinks and works with her hands to create potions and gowns and give solutions. She doesn’t stay still.

"I agree with Count DeVoile, this behaviour is simply a peril to all of us, your Majesty!"

Jay swears he sees Ben lift a hand to his temple in resignation as a skinny, bald man with a rather formal looking uniform stands in the very front of the audience. As he turns his head to preach to the crowd of kings, queens, and even common folk that have been accepted into the hearing, Jay notices the badges glimmering on his outfit, before settling on the most noticeable element: a large white moustache covering his stiff upper lip.

The man coughs pointedly.

“The girl consulted Fairy Godmother and Merlin, you say? Great good that did for the Charming heir and the rest of us in his vicinity. Merlin can protest about the need for the gradual handling of magic all he wants. The facts are the facts. She has inherited her mother’s abilities, sire, and it appears her anger issues are also passed on. We already took a risk by welcoming these villains among our midst, but the exhibition of such propensities shows the only solution for our safety is one. Their containment.”

A murmur spreads through the crowd as some nod at the man’s words.

“Grand Duke, with all due respect,” Ben begins, just as Jay notices the floppy brown hair of Chad Charming bounce when he stands up.

“The Duke of Weselton is right. All the villain kids have done since arriving here is cause trouble, stealing what is ours with no consideration and pretending to have changed their ways. And many of us were in serious danger today. What is next? I can’t tell Mal her hair looks atrocious before I’m burned into a crisp?”

The Duke nods emphatically, gesturing at Chad, before Ben actually rises from his throne to silence the audience once more.

Jay is slowly getting more and more apprehensive. Sure, Fairy Godmother and Merlin vouched that Mal’s outburst was just a result of the early stage of her training. She’s only been in it for ten days and Merlin had praised her discipline multiple times in that period.

But, of course, people don’t understand what a wizard means when he says the magic in her blood needs to be harnessed carefully. They don’t comprehend that she needs to meditate and let it out in training, but also cast more spells and learn more of what it is capable of because if she doesn’t use it, it will pound like an electric current within her bloodstream, begging to be let out.

Jay hadn’t been able to understand that either until Mal painted a canvas to show them how she felt it under her skin and he got chills.

And just like Jay didn’t understand at first, neither do the nobles. All they know right now is fear.

He can see it painted on their faces as vibrant as the light blue cord Mal had drawn dancing around her fingertips.

_They’re scared and they’ll vote for ousting her._

“Anyone else who wishes to speak on this matter?” Ben inquires.

Jay’s so far in his own head, he doesn’t notice when the space next to him empties as Evie stands up.

“Me, Sire.”

Jay looks up at her. Evie’s face is, for all intents and purposes, unreadable. A mask. He forgets how often she has had to wear one as she was growing up with how used he is to her easy smiles and free hugs. She’s his sister. He knows her.

Which is how he knows that whatever she has been preparing in he head for the past half hour is going to completely annihilate these idiots. One, mask is on. Two, her back is set straight. Three, she is using her seductive smile. It’s not reaching her eyes.

“We have heard the opinions of the people of Auradon in this hall today. Nobility, _heirs_ _apparent_ ,” a scathing gaze sent to Chad, “and the people. And if my kin is to be disparaged, I feel I should share my view too. After all, we all arrived here together, no?”

She raises her eyebrows, glancing about, but Jay knows she’s not looking for permission.

Evie bows her head and begins talking again.

“When we first arrived here, we were regarded as the villain kids. The son of Cruella, he must want to murder innocent puppies. The daughter of the Evil Queen, she must care about nothing but her appearance and breaking boys’ hearts. The son of Jafar, he must be a greedy and untrustworthy street rat. Were we under orders by our parents to hurt you? Yes. You all know that. Did we disobey in the end because we grew to love this place and the chance it gave us to be more? Yes. Yes we did.”

Evie’s words are flowing easily and Jay wonders where she’s going to go with this. He still can’t tell.

Evie raises her head to face all of them now.

“Auradon gave us the opportunity to be something more than miniature copies of our parents. To not be little Cruella or little Grimhilde or little Jafar, but Carlos and Evie and Jay. It taught us to care rather than show apathy. It taught us that second chances,” she glances at Ben with a smile, “are there and it is up to us to take them. And we did. We chose good. And we found friends and allies in Auradon. But, understandably there were those who still doubted us. Because even though Auradon gave me a chance to be Evie, some still choose to think of me as the Evil Queen’s daughter. Because I am. I can’t change that.”

Evie starts walking now. Slowly, steadily as she glances around at the faces paying attention to her, she moves towards the throne at the front.

“We live every day in Auradon being ourselves. It means learning how to be a good friend, a good person. We’re not perfect at it and that means making mistakes, because as Fairy Godmother taught us, everyone can make those.”

She pauses as she reaches the front, only to be interrupted by skinny douchestace.

“This line of argumentation has nothing to do with the danger your friend put us in-

“Grand Duke!” Ben commands in a booming voice.

Freddie snickers next to Jay.

“Evie, do go on,” Ben urges.

“We all make mistakes…” Evie has lowered her head again. He can see her shoulders straightening and when she looks up again, her gaze is razor sharp. 

“But Mal’s mistake, it appears, is that she is born magical because that seems to be the only thing she’s accused of today that she can’t control. Did she turn into a dragon again? Yes. Because she’s not fully trained. Did she painfully – for those of us paying attention – turn away to stop the flame? Yes. Did she fly away because she knew she couldn’t contain her anger? Yes.”

Evie is staring everyone down now and Jay knows that whatever is coming will destroy the room.

“What I can’t understand is why everyone is blaming Mal for all of this in the first place. She acted independently in telling Fairy Godmother what was happening, she trains with Master Merlin who is a shapeshifter. She got angry and lost control in transforming and still hurt no one. But no one is asking why she got angry. Not one of you has raised their voice against Chad Charming, who taunted us _villains_ , and physically grabbed me against my will, making my best friend want to retaliate in the first place.”

“Now, wait a second-

“Chad?” Ben’s voice is dangerously low and Jay smirks. _Didn’t inform the king about that tidbit, did you?_

Chad is at a loss with all eyes in the room on him, as he stares.

“It- it was a joke! You can’t be saying it’s as bad as turning into a dragon? We should be taking some action here,” he squeaks.

“The Prince is correct. Maleficent’s daughter could have all sorts of mysterious powers. Are we willing to risk-

“SILENCE.” Ben bellows and the hall obeys at once.

Freddie whistles quietly in praise, but Jay can tell that Evie’s not done yet. Her eyes are focused on Chad.

She is sneering.

 _Uh oh_.

“Yes, Duke. Maleficent’s daughter can have wings, massive claws and can roar. She is a beast. With mysterious powers…Wait a second. I think I’ve heard of this before.”

And suddenly Jay’s eyes widen.

_Oh, shit. She’s doing this._

“We don’t like what we don’t understand, in fact it scares us, and this monster is mysterious at least,” Evie says.

Jay can hear a pin drop.

“I grew up with these chants, these words. Often they were the only thing reaching my ears before sleep. And _Gaston_ wasn’t the one to use these words.”

Evie takes a step back from Chad to stare down the room.

“It was the villagers who said that. Because they didn’t listen to the voice telling them what they didn’t know: that the beast was good. That he’d only made a mistake and had changed. That he could love. It was the good people who were terrified of what they didn’t know that almost killed the beast.”

“Watch your language, girl,” the Duke warns.

Evie spares a glance to him, but doesn’t stop.

“You are a good person, Chad. Jealous, perhaps, and unwilling to lose. But good. Even if you were scared by Mal’s transformation, you know you are partly responsible for it. Right now, you have a choice to make. You either urge them to pick up the torches and pitchforks and kill the beast or you try to understand Mal. Make no mistake, sending her to the Isle after all she’s done to help Auradon? There’s not telling what the villains will do to retaliate. You might as well be condemning her to death.”

Evie’s sharp intake of breath matches his. He’s thought of this, but hearing it out loud just confirms that he’s not leaving Mal’s side if she is sent back.

“Be careful, Chad. Unlike Mal’s transformation, this choice is yours and will affect who you are. You can be a villager, Chard, and wilfully ignore things and be lead by your fear and ignorance. Or you can be a hero and learn from your mistakes. Stop being a bully and grow up. You do know better. You had the stories of your parents to teach you and enough love to show you the right way.”

Jay almost cheers as Evie clearly delivers her punch. She looks at all the other nobles before bowing to Ben and moving towards the exit.

 _Right, time to bail_.

He and Freddie stealth out of the room from the back leaving a bunch of Auradonians frozen in spot after being told they’re acting like the mob that almost killed their former King.

Jay is so proud he doesn’t care if they get sent back to the Isle just for her saying that.

 

* * *

 

 

Jay springs awake at the creaking of the door and swears slightly, looking up to see Ben peeking into the nurse’s medical ward.

_How the heck did we fall asleep?_

He feels more than hears Carlos waking up next to him as he tries to stifle a yawn.

He and Carlos had taken their places on the floor in front of Mal’s bed and had been keeping watch and talking about what Evie said in the throne room. He can remember Harriet bringing in dinner for all of them from the kitchens.

 _If she brewed a sleeping potion and put it in the brownie, I’m suing_.

“Any news?” he hears Freddie ask, as he stands up and reaches down to help Carlos.

“One moment,” says Ben to someone behind him as he walks in and closes the door. He smiles at Mal’s sleeping form and turns to Evie who is resting on a chair next to the bed, holding Mal’s hand.

Ben’s sighs. “I’ll be honest, Evie. What you did was stupid.”

“I think you meant awesome,” Freddie raises her eyebrow. Harriet nods, fist pumping her.

Ben shakes his head. “It was stupid. But it was also brave. And it actually got a lot of people in the room thinking. You were smart, not to dismiss him as a complete bully. What he did was unacceptable, but you handled it better than some of my advisors.”

“Did it work?” Evie asks, shifting in the chair.

“Yeah,” Ben nods tiredly and smiles. “It did. We argued a bit more, but in the end, after much convincing from Fairy Godmother, Merlin, and not surprisingly the Queen of Arendelle herself, Mal is allowed to stay.”

“Elsa?” Carlos asks in wonder.

“She has some experience dealing with prejudice agaist magic and the Duke of Weselton,” Ben chuckles.

“Anyway,” he continues, “Regular reports from Merlin to the council are mandatory and she has to pass a magic evaluation or whatever we’ll call it. But yes. It seems people are starting to finally consider that you can’t all forfeit your magic because it doesn’t come from a wand. We’ll be working on the rest with the advisors. Right, Evie?”

Evie nods and Jay can feel a sigh of relief escaping him and everyone else in the room.

Ben moves to place a kiss on Mal’s cheek, claps Jay on the shoulder and nods at the rest of them before excusing himself.

Jay looks at Evie and notices her eyelids are practically drooping from exhaustion. He moves toward her and nudges her, gesturing at the bed.

Evie smiles at him and hugs him, before curling up in the empty space next to Mal, reaching to hold her hand again. 

The chair is big enough to hold one and a half people of Carlos' size, so both of them squeeze up in there and Dude whines as he curls up underneath it.

Soon enough Jay can hear Freddie’s slight snoring and Harriet’s indistinct mumbling. As he puts his arm around Carlos to make himself more comfortable, he cracks an eye open to take a good look at Mal.

She is peacefully asleep and her colour is returning.

 _I’m so telling her how Evie made an entire realm bow down when she wakes up_.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you've enjoyed this and thank you for your patience as I worked out this thing's structure. Now that I now the chronological sequence, it'll be easier for inspiration to strike. I hope. 
> 
> Next up is a short one shot on the Mal and Ben separation and with all that background established, I can finally get to the actual Malvie I promised.
> 
> Also, apologies for any grammatical errors and for the amount of dialogue in this, but this was how it played out in my head, so I couldn't exactly control that part.


End file.
